


Quiet Please

by lover_of_blue_roses



Series: Singing Soulmate [2]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Soulmates, if only jim you anything about popular music, singing Soulmates, who wont shut up, why are you singing so much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-08-12 01:47:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20163655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lover_of_blue_roses/pseuds/lover_of_blue_roses
Summary: Jim Hutton has a singing soulmate who won't ever shut up. It's very annoying and it's destroying his life. Why won't they shut up?





	1. Chapter 1

Jim hadn't particularly dreamed when he was little to become a barber, it had just happened that he qualified for the training school during the period of his life when he had the financial stability and time to attend. And being a barber was nice, Jim was a decent hairdresser. It made decent money, there was no reason to think that demand would change as hasing hair was a pretty stabile fixture -bar something catastrophic like radiation and nuclear fallout but then Jim would probably have other problems. 

When Jim had been little, it was clear his soulmate was in another time zone although they fortunately spoke English. They were able to communicate using songs like 'Rock around the Clock' and 'I Didn't Know What Time It Was' about the time difficulty. Fortunately when Jim's soulmate was in school they barely ever sang, only just as often as Jim, about once a month, to let the other know they were alive and well. But then, then everything changed.

They must have moved to western Europe, if not Britain itself, because not only were they always sing at expectable times of this timezone but the newest, latest songs that had just premiered on Top of the Pops. And his soulmate went from rarely singing to almost never shutting up. They did it so much that Jim really believed them to be an aspiring singer. And that was great for them or whatever, Jim hoped his soulmate wasn't too self-involved or vain, but the real problem was the obvious: Jim couldn't sing.

It wasn't rare for Jim's soulmate to interrupt him at work. Jim had a jawbreaker mouthguard like everyone else but it was still inconvenient as so many people wanted to keep up a conversation with their hairdressers. Jim's soulmate sang every morning when they woke up, most likely when they were preparing breakfast or waiting for tea to boil and steep. 

Jim wasn't necessarily against that but they didn't seem to be a diligent morning person like himself, always waking up around seven, but often getting up in the middle of the morning like at 10 am even during the week. So then Jim was at work. 

His soulmate also sang at lunch, which was often during his lunch break but not always. In the soulmate's defense that was because Jim worked by commission. Instead of having completely fixed hours (and wages), he worked on people until they were done. Now normally if they had booked an appointment they calculated how long what they wanted was, but if they were a walk in their appointment could easily push back when Jim started his lunch break. It wouldn't reduce his legally allowed 45 minutes lunch break but it meant his soulmate would interrupt. 

Jim had hoped that how little he sang, mostly because he didn't find it all that worthwhile being such a poor singer, would discourage his soulmate. They had both sang so little growing up, they seemed like a good match. But now it had all changed for his soulmate and they felt maybe confident enough to sing all the time. 

While it was annoying at work, it didn't happen that much. However in the evenings when Jim would want to go out and socialize, spend some time with his friends, it could get really bad. His soulmate would sometimes sing for hours without stopping and it meant that Jim had to sit there unable to speak as his friends had a good time. It had gotten to such a point that Jim decided to learn sign language. He couldn't just not speak for hours at a time. 

Sign language wasn't that much a solution as almost no one else knew it. He became in the habit of carrying a pocket sized notebook and pen to write down what he had to say. He did however become friends with people that knew BSL so that he might actually have a change to socialize with people. The first ones he befriended were the obvious ones that were in his BSL class. There were people romantically involved with the deaf, those who were becoming hard-of-hearing (HoH) or deaf, those in the same boat as him with vocal soulmates and one person who was mother to a deaf child. 

The mother told him that the father of the child was her husband and lived at home with both of them and yet he couldn't be arsed to learn how to communicate with his son. She told him through tears how he'd yell and get angry that their son couldn't hear him as though it was his fault. Jim would learn that most parents of deaf children didn't learn sign language and Jim's heart broke. He was learning BSL for selfish reasons but he couldn't imagine not wanting, not even willing to learn the only language your child would ever really understand. 

The other people with noisy soulmates hadn't all met theirs yet. Jim was surprised by those that met their soulmates. He had natively assumed that they must all be singers, professional singers, doing it for work. But often the noisy soulmates didn't realize how bothersome their behavior was and they were talkative people that loved to sing. One of the girls, her soulmate had been in a relevantly tiny church choir and practiced religiously -punned intended- the same boring, dry songs again and again. One of the lads, had been concerned his soulmate was one of the beatles. It couldn't have been as McCartney and Lennon were soulmates and it was their voices on some of the tracks. It had turned out only to be a very passionate groupie that sang along to their songs everyday for hours.

This was apparently the most common phenomenon. Rarely were their soulmates the original songwriters or singers but rather fans that sang along. Which makes sense as statistically there is only one singer and an endless amount of potential fans. Jim guesses this shouldn't really be that surprising as he's seen the footage of crowds (often thousands of teenage girls) singing along to wildly addictive songs. 

So for the moment Jim learns BSL, makes new friends that know the language and doesn't think much of it. But then his soulmate goes from three songs in the morning, a hour in the evening and a few on the weekend to several hours every single day. Jim can't even understand how their voice doesn't hurt from overuse. Jim cramps his mouth shut so that only a muffled sound can be hear, it stops his tongue from drying out and his throat from really hurting but his voice still often becomes raw and it hurts to speak. He can only imagine how it affects his soulmate. Does this not hurt them? Why are they singing so much?

Their songs are for the most part the current top of the billboard. Really popular rock songs. Until one day it's more and more the same songs. Jim feels like he still hears the lyrics in his dreams. They are weird, about odd fantastical things. Faires and rat kings and god only knows. They seem to sing the same songs everyday which leads Jim to believe they must all be songs from the same album. Their soulmate has just purchased his album and they must listen to it everyday. 

The only good news is that they don't sing during the day anymore. [What Jim doesn't know is that his soulmate is recording his songs in the middle of the night and sleeping in the day time. Jim isn't literally dreaming of the lyrics so much as hearing them and the reason for the quiet during the day is only because they aren't awake to make any noise.] 

Jim hopes it'll get better. That they will move on from their fixation with this album and return to their previous lower amounts of singing. That's not what happens. Instead they must get another album to obsess over and they sing it even more. They must sing for at least four hours every afternoon. And yet still somehow it gets even worse. Jim doesn't know if they are a groupie following them on a tour, or if their work schedule has changed so they no longer had the afternoon free, or maybe even they've just changed time zones but now every evening, they'd sing. There would be about 20 minutes of the songs from these two albums and the songs from another band, Mott Hoople. 

Jim was starting to recognize all these songs when they played on the radio and was making note of them so at least he'd have something to discuss with his soulmate. But Jim -argh- Jim just found it all so uninteresting. He dipped a toe into finding out about bands and it was this bullshit celebrity gossip about bands breaking up and cheating on their wives. Jim couldn't stop rolling his eyes and quickly gave it all up as a wash. He didn't care and if he didn't know anything then his soulmate would have a lot to tell him. 

Jim's soulmate never did stop or slow down. If anything they ramped up. They got more and more songs which was nice compare to the repeativness of early days but despite this they also clearly had some favorite that they returned to every night. Jim really had a terrible singing voice. He couldn't hit any of the notes, he certainly couldn't go high, he couldn't match pitch and he wasn't sure he wasn't in fact tone deaf. His singing was bad when he listened to it but he also lived somewhere with thin walls and went out of house. Jim knew that most days at a set time, his soulmate would sing for about two hours, so Jim adjusted his lifestyle to reflect this.

Due to his poor singing voice, he couldn't go without his gag and so he had to learn easily understood gestures for things, dog eared pages in his notebook of most common phrases and now that he would just be unable to go out for those hours. The difficulty was that his soulmate must have been traveling to places with different time zones. So often he'd be at work with his gag. He didn't like this, his customers didn't like this and thus requested him less and this made his boss not like this. He wasn't fired yet because he was a competent hard worker but it couldn't last forever.

Also, it sometimes happened on dates or during more intimate activities. It was kind of ruining his life. Most people never met their soulmates and so dating people that were not your soulmate was perfectly acceptable, but no one wanted to be reminded that they were only second best. Not to mention it made communication difficult or impossible. Most soulmates only sang one song at a time but Jim was well aware that his would often sing for two hours except when he sang for the whole day. 

At this point Jim wasn't sure he wasn't going to punch is soulmate in the face when they met. It doesn't matter how much they love music or whatever bands their into, they were ruining Jim's life and for what? Because they were obsessed? Not loved enough as a child and now projecting onto enviable rockstars and their 'glamorous' lifestyle?

And so Jim dates. It's complicated and he has only the pool of gay men people that know BSL to pick from. It's hard to find long-term boyfriends but Jim is good looking enough to easily get one-night stands and booty calls. 

It starts to really boil over, the resent growing in Jim everyday. His career is threatened, his social life is constricted, his dating life is terrible, his whole life is upended and for what? For some shallow groupie that's not ever going to end up with the rockstar anyways? It's frustrating, inconsiderate behavior and it makes Jim feel hatred toward his soulmate. Jim is a mild, quiet, calm, grounded man, but he is also prideful enough not to accept such inconsiderate behavior from one that is suppose to love him the most. And what does it mean that that is Jim's soul's perfect match? Is Jim deep down that selfish or is he the kind of doormat that tolerates that kind of behavior? 

Jim doesn't think so and if he ever meets his soulmate, he's gonna give them a real piece of his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuse for how bad this fic is but if I don't publish it, it'll never get rewritten.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a reason most people never meet their soulmates because how do you know if it's happened? You don't.

  
Jim's soulmate must be on a break because they haven't stopped singing for hours everyday. It often only happens a few times a year where for four or five days they shut up but for an occasional song. Jim isn't sure why it happens, only happy that it does. Maybe the brutal constant over usage of their voice has finally gotten to them.

Jim makes the most of it going out every night, jawbreaker mouthguard in pocket, and lighting up the town with whatever little money he has. He isn't the kind to blow a grand on cocaine so his good times generally don't cost that much.

This evening he's sitting at the bar nursing a small headache. He's not in the best mood to be out at a noisy place but he can go out so rarely, he must make the most of it. He can see peripherally someone slide up to the bar. Jim pays them no mind thinking they are gonna order from the bar keep. "Can I buy you a drink?" Is instead the offer.

The stranger is attractive sure, dark hair, dark eyes, but Jim doesn't know what he's going to do that evening. Probably nothing unless Johnathan shows up, an attractive knowing BSL fuck buddy of Jim that said he might swing by later. What Jim does know is that he just doesn't want to deal with anything else, he can barely tolerate the stuffy smell of cigarettes and the pounding music, "Fuck off." He says without any hatred.

The handsome stranger is at least good enough to understand the clear dismissal as a 'no' and leaves without making a rude comment that Jim is a prude or anything. Well at least there's that. The last thing Jim needs is to be in a bar fight. If he gets arrested, even maybe for jaywalking, his boss would jump on that opportunity to fire him without it being soulmate discrimination.

Jim was right not to go with that stranger because Jonathan did show up later. Jonathan was blond and tall. All kinds of a really good time. When he first showed up to the bar, he instantly sees Jim, relaxing and nursing a pint. He was out of breath and his hair was disheveled which made Jim think of the last time he'd made his hair like that. "I heard Freddie Mercury was at this bar!"

"Who?" Jim was terrible with celebrity gossip. He could maybe name the prime minister, the members of the royal family and that was about it.

"Oh, the singer of Queen? Right you never listen to music, he's this fabolous singer with a really talented voice? Bohemian Rhapsody? Crazy Little Thing Called Love? Haven't you heard any of that on the radio? Their stuff is quite good, very popular."

Jim didn't doesn't listen to music anymore, so he doesn't know of their stuff and didn't care that much. Not when this beautiful man was all his tonight.

_(*Like ships in the night / You keep passing me by*)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me a bad person? Probably.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yet again soulmates meeting without knowing and yet if they are staying together maybe they'll figure it out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe I wrote this in a public place.

Time passes and Jim thinks nothing of little of it expect perhaps that he's attractive enough to appeal to a celebrity. The singing is just so common that Jim must live this adjusted lifestyle. Jim is now in a habit to fill in his mouthguard as soon as he gets home so he can listen to the news radio broadcast in peace without it suddenly being cut off. He hasn't been fired by his boss yet but fewer and fewer customers are commissioning him for his services which is making it harder and harder to pay his bills.

If this continues much longer Jim will have to change apartments, maybe somewhere with a flatmate, to save money. Jim is sure when he meets his soulmate he'll love them, they will after all still be soulmates, but first Jim is going to smack them upside the head for singing this much, especially when Jim considers how lucky he was of how little they sang in grade school. Oh to go back to those blessed times.

And that's what Jim is doing there in the bar, hoping to drink and fuck away his troubles, when he hears again that classic line, "Can I buy you a drink?"

Jim hadn't forgot his near brush with stardom and remembers the man's face, mostly because it's beautiful. He has dark crop hair and a neatly trimmed 'stache. He has big soulful brown eyes that look at him with lust. "I'll have a beer then."

Freddie orders him a pint and sits down on the stool next to him. He's very forward and places a hand on Jim's thigh. It's not that surprise seeing what kind of place this is but Jim isn't use to people as brazen as to next say with a squeeze to his thigh, "So how big is your cock?" Freddie licks his lips and leans in.

"I actually prefer to bottom." Jim replies just as bluntly. 

Freddie is taken aback for a moment. Jim gives off major bear vibes. Certainly neither of them have the traditional twink body type. "I can - I could-"

'Top?' Jim is unconvinced. Freddie is turned up nicely in a leather jacket with a tank top, sneakers and jeans. Despite this lowkey look, he gives off a complete major diva vibe. A bossy bottom that demands to be pleased and lavished with pleasure. "I can top," Jim decides.

After that the chit-chat is really basic as Jim finish his pint, if you start with asking for dick size there isn't much left to say except, 'your place or mine'. Jim mentions that his soulmate is noisy and they might be 'interrupted.' Freddie just laughs and say he'll just have to make some noise of his own as revenge. 

They shag that night and it's great. Really explosive. Sparks fly and they have fun all night long. But after their good time, life continues. Freddie would like to financial support Jim in exchange for having an on call kept man. Jim isn't interested in this, he wants to maintain his financial independence. He isn't a pet, he isn't a toy, he isn't a mistress. If Freddie is interested Jim is here, but if Jim is just a Winnie stand in (Winnie being Freddie's current 'boyfriend' who lives in Munich) when Freddie isn't in Munich, he wants nothing to do with it; no matter how handsome Freddie is or how good the sex. 

Jim is unmovable and at first Freddie has been too hurt by previous lovers and society's treatment of his relationships to want something serious. And so it seems they are at an impasse. The unstoppable force against the unmovable object. But Jim is kind and considerate but also prideful enough not to allow himself to be mistreated by Freddie. 

And so Jim lays down the laws; a monogamous, committed relationship with time and effort dedicated. Eventually Freddie is powerless in the face of his feelings for Jim to do anything except accept these terms. The relationship they start deepens naturally as they lived and loved unaware of the truth of what they are to each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapters are better than no chapters?
> 
> Idk if the pacing is writing. what is like with the first of this series I'm messing it all up, i take concrit


	4. Chapter 4

Jim had never attended a rock concert. Jim had never attend a concert at all. Jim had never been that interested in music and his soulmate had kind of ruined music for him. But Freddie was talented, passionate and extremely successful. Not to mention only a twenty-minute dose would probably be tolerable if he hated it compare to starting with a 2-hour concert. 

Live Aid was going to be so big Jim was pretty sure his soulmate won't shut up the whole day. They had certainly made a lot of noise in the days leading up to it. And yet the day of, Jim had preventatively worn his gag but his soulmate had been mostly silent. Most days they sang for hours and this day, the day in which it seemed the whole of Britain was singing, they were quiet. 

Jim didn't think much of the other bands' performances. He really didn't think much of Bono jumping down into the crowd. He understood it was hard to connect to the audience considering how big the arena was and how high the stage but Jim knew Freddie was such a talented showman and so magnetically charismatic that he could reach the whole crowd without such time wasting theartics. Jim knew it in his heart but Phoebe, Freddie's personal assistant, told him Freddie had been able to do it previously in places like Brazil. Jim couldn't imagine going out in front of a crowd that big. But Freddie wasn't afraid, if anything the bigger the stage the larger Freddie became. As with the televisions all broadcasting, even across the pond, the whole world might as well have been watching. 

Jim hoped it went well, that Freddie didn't make a mistake, it would make him so mad and, rightfully, unconsolable. Jim didn't know what he would do then. It was bad enough that all of Queen had been tense and argumentative the entire week but today they had been sniping at each other incessantly.

"It's going to be fine. They are going to do great. They always do great. Even when Freddie's voice gives out on him at the end of a tour, they still have the crowd," Phoebe reassures Jim. Jim always thought his soulmate might hurt his voice from over using it but after hearing what Freddie put himself through, Jim understood how high the bar was. 

And thank god for people like Phoebe to stop the band from ripping each other apart during tense times like this. He is like dandelion fluff, always nice and optimistic. A ray of sunshine taken human form. Never a bad word to cross his lips. It's always amusing to see the wonderful soul that Freddie, constant drama, has chosen to surround himself with. Especially considering Prenter, Freddie's personal manager, treated everyone like they were lesser, like 'the help,' like servants beneath him. 

"I'm sure they will. It's not like I have anything to compare it to." Thankfully, little did they know, the only one to humiliate themselves was going to be Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran. After Dire Strait, who have to rush out due to being on a touring schedule unrelated to Live Aid, there is finally Queen. 

Freddie is pumped up, jumping on the stop and swinging his arms. He sends Jim a flirty wink and then comedians call Queen's name. Freddie explodes out onto the stage while Jim watches from the wings with the rest of the Queen crew. And then- And then Freddie starts to sing and at first Jim just thinks his soulmate is singing along, Brian had explained about their infectious music such as Love of my Life and the intentionally created thus We Will Rock You. But Crystal, Roger's roadie, grabs him to stop him from putting his gag in. Over the roaring of the giant crowd without a microphone there is a zero chance of Jim being heard by the audience.

Phoebe crowds them, he knows that Jim doesn't know any music let alone Queen music. There's no way it can be Jim singing along. Crystal flicks his eyes between the stage and Jim. "It's a very sung along song," Phoebe says. 

"It sure is but this isn't the album version, listen it's the same quirks as Freddie." The two listen very carefully to what Jim is singing and sure enough it sounds different but it's hard to tell because Jim's singing voice is so different to Freddie's.

"Do you ever listen what songs your soulmate sings? Are they all Queen songs?" Jim tries to make it clear what he is shaking his head to.

"You don't listen to what your soulmate sings and you won't know if they are all Queen, as you don't know Queen songs?" Phoebe rephrases and Jim nods, unable to communicate with them as they know no BSL. 

"Yeah but there's no way you're Freddie's." Ratty, Freddie's roadie says. Ratty doesn't seem to really like Jim but he mostly doesn't seem to like anyone. Ratty isn't saying this hatefully or with scorn but more baffled at the unlikely hood.

Phoebe shakes his head, "It is very unlikely, but Jim was describing how much his soulmate sings... It could still be."

"Has your soulmate ever made you sing when you were with Freddie?"

It's been such a constant in Jim's life and remain such after meeting Freddie he had never noticed it happened to never happen when in Fred's presence. But now that it's been pointed... He slowly shakes his head in stunned shock.

"Oh hey mate um." Crystal is sharing a look with Ratty after that expression, "Borhap is a really popular sing along with the band. Like We Are the Champions. And this is being broadcast to everyone and their mums'. Just," he makes a calm down gesture.

Jim does indeed relax but he doesn't put in the gag. They stand there and watch Freddie preform Radio Ga Ga. It's hard to focus on how close to the record Jim is singing when there are literally tens of thousands of people all completely in sync and in control of Freddie. Freddie looks understandably delighted and playful. The song ends and crowd cheers. The sheer wall of sound is remarkable. It's hard to tell because previously he was in back but the crowd sounds louder, as though they are cheering more than this. 

And then- And then any doubt disappears. Freddie starts to do his vocalizations. Jim doesn't echo him like the rest of the crowd (Freddie doesn't need to tell the crowd follow me, they are all in the palm of his hand), no Jim is completely in step. Three more songs and the performance ends. Queen bow, flushed and proud of their accomplishment. They should be that was astonishing although none of the crew can properly appreciate it in light of the more interesting occurrence. 

Crystal takes Jim by the shoulders and leads him to Freddie, it really can't wait. They need to know now, it can't wait a minute more. "Sing something," Suggests Ratty following at their heels. 

"I can't sing."

"That I heard." Ratty confirms after having heard Jim's version of their Live Aid. He races ahead and goes to Freddie, "It's kind of an emergency, I need you to sing something. Not Queen."

"An emergency? Is it my voice?"

"Could you just-?" Ratty insits. 

This attitude is messing with Freddie's glow so the easiest way for it to stop is to sing, he assumes he's not allowed anything from Live Aid and so gives a song from the Foreigners, turned down for not being famous enough despite their 1# hit this year, which is the song he sings: 'I Want to Know What Love Is.'

He hears it instantly from another voice. His soulmate! He turns and there is one baffled Jim standing there being gripped by Crystal. He lets the song die down and Jim blushes, "I can't really... I don't have a singing voice."

Deacon in the background rolls his eyes so hard its a miracle he doesn't pull something. Jim is being silly, he just... He might not actually be able to think of a single song. He terribly can't think of anything but God Save the Queen and his hesitating stammering voice comes out clear from Freddie's voice. Holy Shit!

EPILOGUE

As to the solution of what to do when your soulmate is a touring singer? Well Freddie would continue to argue it's being his kept man. 'You provide me love, comfort, you are my everything is that not worth nothing.' To which Jim is of a mind that, 'I'm not a whore and you don't owe me anything. I'm with you in spite of your money not because of it. I will make my own way in this world.' 

And so a profession that doesn't require talking to people... Freddie has this big yard but nothing in it. It's so big why it'd take a full-time gardener to take care of it... And if Jim works hard for his wage then there's no more problem.


End file.
